Female Sports Finally Getting Recognition
The Pony Express Editorial Board
The Pony Express Editorial Board
Sports are a huge part of most high school campuses. They are a chance to represent our school community and play the sports we love. Because of this, many athletes are excited to be a part of on-campus sports teams, however, there are still large gaps in recognition between sports and genders.
As a fully-female editorial team who are also athletes, we have seen, firsthand, the lack of recognition female-dominated sports get. From dance, which regularly has physically challenging routines and performances, to sideline cheer, which is constantly engaging in school spirit through vigorous cheers and difficult stunts, these sports, although competitive, don’t receive anywhere close to the recognition they deserve.
In 2019, traditional competitive cheer was recognized as a sport by the California Interscholastic Federation and the International Olympic Committee, who voted in favor of making cheer an Olympic sport. Since the Olympics have now recognized cheerleading as a sport, there is no reason why those that oppose cheer would have a valid argument anymore, if one of their strongest arguments before was that the Olympics didn’t have cheer as a sport.
In the past, many people have looked down on cheerleading and dance as if they’re not “real” sports. These athletes still condition and train as much, if not more, as other sports, so the recognition is long overdue and much deserved. Our own traditional competitive cheer team has excelled in most of their competitions this year, which proves that, if given the chance, women can succeed at a high level and represent our school community at its best.
On another note, CIF recently voted in favor of flag football being an official sport for girls. This is a major breakthrough for female student-athletes across California because we are finally allowed to play a sport that is seen to be “too dangerous” for us, even though it is not the same version of football men play.
Oftentimes female dominant sports are seen as insignificant within the sports community and are even undermined. At the professional level, female sports do not receive the same publicity as male sports such as the NBA, NFL and MLB. Not only are they less represented and published but they are also paid far less. The average WNBA athlete makes $102,571 for one season, whereas the average NBA player makes $9,662,447 for one season. Although it is often argued that due to the difference in audiences there is not going to be as much revenue going around for WNBA players, they also aren’t seen as often in sponsorships as NBA players.
In both professional, collegiate-level and adolescent sports, girls often get backhanded compliments from others regarding the female-dominated sports that they participate in.
On a more local level, women’s sports get a lot less publicity than men’s on our school's social media accounts. Throughout the entire basketball season, there has been a lot more publicity, theme nights and recognition for boys’ basketball. On the other hand, girls’ basketball has gotten an Instagram story here or there, which has been disappointing to us since both teams work extremely hard to represent Pioneer. As a result, there is much less spirit from the student body as not many people know about the games that are happening, which is discouraging for those who work so hard.
Women’s sports need to be given the same opportunities and recognition as men’s sports do currently. These athletes train and prepare so much only to be undervalued and overlooked. What needs to come next is equal publicity and a closer, or hopefully soon nonexistent, pay gap between genders in professional sports, and recognition for women’s sports on the local level. Although we have made great strides so far, we still have a very long way to go. We are, however, optimistic that recognizing a few more sports as official sports is a step in the right direction that will lead to more changes along the way.
As a fully-female editorial team who are also athletes, we have seen, firsthand, the lack of recognition female-dominated sports get. From dance, which regularly has physically challenging routines and performances, to sideline cheer, which is constantly engaging in school spirit through vigorous cheers and difficult stunts, these sports, although competitive, don’t receive anywhere close to the recognition they deserve.
In 2019, traditional competitive cheer was recognized as a sport by the California Interscholastic Federation and the International Olympic Committee, who voted in favor of making cheer an Olympic sport. Since the Olympics have now recognized cheerleading as a sport, there is no reason why those that oppose cheer would have a valid argument anymore, if one of their strongest arguments before was that the Olympics didn’t have cheer as a sport.
In the past, many people have looked down on cheerleading and dance as if they’re not “real” sports. These athletes still condition and train as much, if not more, as other sports, so the recognition is long overdue and much deserved. Our own traditional competitive cheer team has excelled in most of their competitions this year, which proves that, if given the chance, women can succeed at a high level and represent our school community at its best.
On another note, CIF recently voted in favor of flag football being an official sport for girls. This is a major breakthrough for female student-athletes across California because we are finally allowed to play a sport that is seen to be “too dangerous” for us, even though it is not the same version of football men play.
Oftentimes female dominant sports are seen as insignificant within the sports community and are even undermined. At the professional level, female sports do not receive the same publicity as male sports such as the NBA, NFL and MLB. Not only are they less represented and published but they are also paid far less. The average WNBA athlete makes $102,571 for one season, whereas the average NBA player makes $9,662,447 for one season. Although it is often argued that due to the difference in audiences there is not going to be as much revenue going around for WNBA players, they also aren’t seen as often in sponsorships as NBA players.
In both professional, collegiate-level and adolescent sports, girls often get backhanded compliments from others regarding the female-dominated sports that they participate in.
On a more local level, women’s sports get a lot less publicity than men’s on our school's social media accounts. Throughout the entire basketball season, there has been a lot more publicity, theme nights and recognition for boys’ basketball. On the other hand, girls’ basketball has gotten an Instagram story here or there, which has been disappointing to us since both teams work extremely hard to represent Pioneer. As a result, there is much less spirit from the student body as not many people know about the games that are happening, which is discouraging for those who work so hard.
Women’s sports need to be given the same opportunities and recognition as men’s sports do currently. These athletes train and prepare so much only to be undervalued and overlooked. What needs to come next is equal publicity and a closer, or hopefully soon nonexistent, pay gap between genders in professional sports, and recognition for women’s sports on the local level. Although we have made great strides so far, we still have a very long way to go. We are, however, optimistic that recognizing a few more sports as official sports is a step in the right direction that will lead to more changes along the way.